In the lumber industry, forest workers enter a forest and cut down live tree stems, after which it is desirable to remove the leaves and branches before cutting the tree stems to a uniform length.
Examples of apparatus for delimbing tree stems are shown in the patents to Brisson U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,616 issued July 29, 1980 and Laforge et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,299 issued Apr. 6, 1976. These patents disclose conveying tree stems transversely across a rotating shaft during the delimbing operation. The Brisson '616 patent discloses attaching a plurality of radially extendable flail members, e.g., chains, to the rotating shaft for delimbing the tree stems. The Laforge et al '299 patent discloses attaching sheet-like members extending radially outwardly from the rotating shaft, with bars extending between the sheet-like members for delimbing.
The prior art delimbing apparatus are comprised of complex mechanisms requiring a plurality of intricate moving parts. Accordingly, a delimbing apparatus of simple construction and minimal parts which will effectively delimb a large quantity of tree stems is welcomed in the art.